BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, a private clinic allegedly conducted abortion on a 17-week pregnant woman before flushing out the foetus from an unused washroom in Nayagarh town, about 86 km from here, on Wednesday.
Police said, the abortion was carried out ‘without the woman’s knowledge and consent’ and that the husband had allegedly paid Rs 13,000 to the clinic for the pregnancy termination after an ultrasound imaging showed the foetus had deformity. After Chief District Medical and Public Health Officer of Nayagarh received an input about the abortion being carried out at Aditya Hospital and Clinic, he alerted District Headquarter Hospital (Obstetrician and Gynaecologist) consultant Dr Aurobindo Mohapatra.
Dr Mohapatra along with Nayagarh Tehsildar, Inspector-in-charge and other police personnel immediately rushed to the spot and conducted a raid at the clinic. "Initial investigation suggests the woman's abortion was being carried out without any license and permission of the authority. A case has been registered under Sections 312,313,417 and of 34 IPC and Section 5 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act," Nayagarh SP, Sidhharth Kataria, told The New Indian Express.
Police said, exact details can be ascertained after recording statement of the woman who is undergoing treatment at Nayagarh District Headquarter Hospital. Preliminary investigation said, the clinic did not have doctors with expertise to carry out an abortion procedure. During the raid, the team ascertained that Ganesh Pradhan, a resident of Tudigadia village under Odagaon police limits, had admitted his wife to the private clinic to terminate her pregnancy.
Nayagarh Police have seized case records and risk bond of the woman from the hospital but could not find medical termination of pregnancy form of the patient. Besides, none of the documents had signatures of any doctor. Aditya Hospital and Clinic's proprietor Satya Priya Swain, two female nurses, woman's husband Ganesh and a middleman have been arrested, the SP informed. The joint team could not find the aborted fetus immediately but it was seized from a drain on Wednesday. "
Satya Priya Swain and other staff had flushed the foetus in an unused washroom of the hospital. It was recovered with assistance of the municipality officials. The foetus has been sent for a medical examination," said Kataria.
So far, police have not found any evidence indicating that the woman's pregnancy was terminated based upon the predicted sex of the infant. Sources said, police seized two ultrasound reports and one of them suggested that the infant might have had physical deformity which could have prompted Ganesh to carry out abortion of his wife. Police sources said Satya's father Dr Banamali Swain ran a clinic under a different name. He was apprehended along with two others for allegedly carrying out abortion of a woman of Khurda district in 2016.
There had been allegations of sex selective abortion against the clinic in the past. Satya and his father Banamali then changed the clinic's registration and name and started running Aditya Hospital. "Our probe suggests the clinic does not have any specialized doctors. Investigation is being carried out very thoroughly and our aim is to file the chargesheet and achieve conviction of the case at the earliest as it will be act as a deterrent," said Kataria.
The incident has brought back horrendous memories of 2007 when the town grabbed headlines over a spate of female foeticide after several bagful of body parts were found in the district headquarters town.